Magazine safety razor



Jan. 11, 1944. TEST! 2,338,880

MAGAZ INE SAFETY RAZOR Filed June 17, 1943 Patented Jan. 11, 1944 MAGAZINE SAFETY RAZOR Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application June 17, 1943, Serial No. 491,118

10 Claims.

This invention consists in an improved safety razor for use with a blade magazine of the type adapted to be detachably associated with the razor handle and in which the razor head is,

/ therefore, pivotally connected to the handle so that it may be located in a transverse shaving position or swung into a parallel position for the purpose of receiving a blade from the magazine.

An important feature of the invention consists in means for automatically separating the bladeclamping members of the razor head when the head is swung into parallelism with the razor handle for the purpose of receiving a blade from the magazine.

As herein shown this is effected by providing the handle (at its upper end with a cam or cams and providing the cap member of the razor head with a retaining portion extendifig below the cap into contact with the cams so that when the head is rocked into'blade-receiving position the cap and guard 'are positively separated by cam action and a blade may be freely advanced into shaving position between them. As a further feature the retaining portion of the cap may be utilized to guide the cap in a straight path and to limit its movement to a convenient extent.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are views in perspective of the complete safety razor as seen from two different angles; i

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective showing the razor parts in exploded relation;

Fig. 4 is a view of the razor head in longitudinal section;

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective showing the razor head in its blade-receiving position.

The illustrated razor in its general construction is of the Gillette type although it will be understood that the invention is not restricted to that or to any particular type of safety razor but with suitable modification and addition may be embodied in any type of safety razor employing replaceable blades.

1 The blade-supporting or guard member Ill is substantially rectangular in outline and provided with a fisat blade-supporting face bounded by parallel fulcrum shoulders over which the blade is transversely flexed when clamped in shaving position. The blade-supporting face of the guard is provided with a longitudinal blade-locating rib II, as shown in Fig. 4, and the guard has a central aperture i2. It is also bevelled at one end l3 to facilitate presentation to and removal from the razor of a blade. The guard is rigidly connected to a hinge block M which is a part of the handle and, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, is provided with a hollow upwardly-extending stem l5 passing through and headed over in the body of the guard. A collar 16 surrounds the stem l5, engaging the bottom of the guard at its upper face and being provided with parallel longitudinal grooves I9 in its side walls. The block M is provided with a recess H which opens through the bottom and one side of the block and divides its lower part into spaced side portions. These side portions are perforated to receive transverse journal studs upon which the block I4 and the attached guard may rock through an angle of as will presently appear.

The handle of the razor comprises a tubular member 20, square in cross-section and terminating at its upper end in a pair 'of hook-shaped ears 2|. The hinge block 14 is journalled between these ears and supported upon trunnion studs l8 which project inwardly through the ears 2|. The handle is provided with a headed stud 22 in one vertical wall for gauging the magazine and in its opposite wall with a headless stud 23 which projects inwardly suflicient to retain the spindle of the razor in place while permitting it to move freely in a limited path. The lower end of the handle is slotted to provide a group of spring fingers arranged frictionally to engage a tapering shoulder formed in the lower end of the spindle.

Cooperating with the blade-supporting or guard member is a cap 25 of similar outline but somewhat narrower than the guard. The underface of the cap25 is transversely curved in a concave manner for flexing a blade over the shoulders of the guard. It is provided with a longitudinal slot 26 which affords clearance for the blade-locating rib H of the guard when the cap and guard are moved into blade-clamping relation. At one end it is provided with a pair of downwardly extending arms 28 which support an underlying retaining plate 29. The latter extends inwardly beneath the guard, embraces the collar l 6 of the hinge block and is provided with a pair of oppositely disposed ears 30 which are arranged to engage in the longitudinal grooves 19 of the collar, and thus preventing disengagement of the retaining plate and guiding it in a vertical path of limited extent. The cap is centrally perforated and provided with a threaded boss 27 concentric with its perforation.-

Within the handle is arranged a spindle 32 having a collar 33 which, in the assembled razor, is located above the stud 23 so that the spindle can never be withdrawn endwise from the handle. The upper end 34 of the spindle is reduced and threaded for cooperation with the'threaded boss 21 of the cap member. The diameter of the spindle is such that its upper end passes freely through the hinged block I 4 and the guard I and may be easily entered into and engaged with the boss 21 of the cap. When the spindle is disengaged from the cap and retracted until arrested by the stud 23 its upper end is withdrawn below the upper face of the hinge block l4 and stands in the recess I! thereby freeing the block for rocking about the transverse axis of the studs I8. The spindle, however, may be passed freely through the block 14 when the latter is rocked into its horizontal position as shown in Fig. 5.

The illustrated razor is designed to take a blade 36 of commercial Gillette type, that is to say, a thin flexible blade, recessed at its corners to define elongated unsharpened end portions and provided with a central longitudinal slot by which the blade is positively located in shaving position.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 4 the razor is shown as organized for shaving, the blade 36 being clamped securely between the cap and guard members and positively located by the rib l I of the guard member. In this position the spindle 32-34 is screwed into the threaded boss 21 of the cap so that the latter is drawn down into firm clamping engagement, bowing the blade transversely and supporting its edges on both sides. When it is desired to remove the used blade the spindle is merely rotated in a counter-clockwise direction until its threaded end 34 is disengaged from the boss 2'! and the cap 25 released from its bladeclamping pressure. As soon as it is disengaged from the boss 21 the spindle may be lowered to a position determined by the stud 23 leaving the block I! free to rock as already explained. The blade may now be readily removed by pulling it endwise toward the right as seen in Fig. 4. As already noted the right-hand of the guard is bevelled to facilitate grasping the end of the blade.

A fresh blade may be supplied by hand while the spindle remains in its lower and inoperative position or the head of the razor may be tilted into the position shown in Fig. in which it is disposed parallel to the razor handle and a blade magazine of the general type shown in my copending application Ser. No. 461,702, filed October 12, 1942, may be presented in operative position and gauged at one side of the handle by the headed stud 22. The magazine forms no part of the present invention and is not herein shown.

In tilting the razor head from its transverse position in Fig. 2 to its parallel or vertical position shown in Fig. 5 the spaced edge cam surfaces of the cam ears 2| engage the body of the retaining plate 29 of the cap and push it and the cap outwardly. Thus the cap is positively moved and maintained in separated relation with respect to the guard member so long as the razor head remains in this parallel blade-receiving position. A blade is now projected from the magazine into the razor head and subsequently the latter is rocked upwardly into its transverse position. The spindle 32-34 is next moved upwardly in the razor handle so that its threaded end 34 passes upwardly out of the hinge block l4 and may be made to engage the threaded boss 21 in the upper part of the cap. Finally upon rotation of the spindle the cap is drawn down with positive blade-clamping pressure and the blade is again supported in the proper position for shaving.

The spindle 3234 has another function, viz: that of locking the razor head in its parallel or blade-receiving position. For this purpose the spindle may be pushed upwardly while the head occupies its blade-receiving position, until the end of the spindle passes into and through the hinge block M and when so moved the spindle is held in this elevated position by the spring fingers of the handle, as shown in Fig. 5. The hinge block and the head are thus positively locked and there is no danger of displacement while a new blade is being supplied from the magazine.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described an illustrative embodiment thereof I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A safety razor comprising a handle having a cam at one end, a guard member pivotally mounted at that end of the handle, and a cap movably mounted above the guard and having a retaining portion extending below the guard and into position to make contact with said cam when the guard is moved on its pivotal connection with the handle.

- 2. A safety razor comprising a handle having a cam at one end, a block pivotally mounted in the handle adjacent to said cam, a guard member fast to said block, and a cap movable above the guard member and having a retaining portion slidably connected with said block and a face disposed in position to make contact with said cam when the said block is rocked in the handle.

3. A safety razor comprising a handle having a cam at one end, a guard member pivotally connected to the handle and spaced therefrom, and a cap movable with respect to the guard member and having a retaining portion extending into space between the handle and guard member where it may be shifted byengagement with the said cam when the guard member is rocked on the handle.

4. A safety razor comprising a hollow handle with projecting cars at one end having peripheral cam surfaces, a block mounted to swing between iail ears, aguard member permanently secured to said block, a cap movably mounted on the guard member and having a centrally disposed threaded socket and a retaining plate disposed in position to make contact with the cam surfaces of said ears, the cap, guard member and block being provided with aligned openings, and

a threaded spindle movably mounted in said handle and shaped to engage the threaded socket of the cap.

5. A safety razor comprising a handle containing a longitudinally movable and rotatable spindle, a guard member pivotally mounted on the handle, a cap having a retaining plate disposed between the handle and the guard member, and a cam on the handle for lifting the cap through its said retaining plate when the guard member is rocked on the handle, the spindle being arranged for connection with the cap to draw it into blade-clamping position.

6. A safety razor comprising a handle containing a spindle and having a pair of spaced cams, a perforated block pivotally mounted to rock between said cams, a perforated guard member carried by the block, and a cap having a spindlereceiving socket and a connected portion located beneath the guard member whereby the cap may be moved by said cams with respect to the guard member.

7. A safety razor comprising a handle having spaced cams at one end, a block mounted to swing between said cams and having a longitudinal groove formed in a part thereof, a guard member fast to said block, and a cap loosely mounted on said guard member and having a portion guided in said longitudinal groove and another portion cooperatively located with respect to said cams.

8. A safety razor comprising a handle having a cam thereon, and a head pivotally mounted on the handle, a movable cap carried by the head and having a retaining portion connected to a part of the handle and guided thereby and also cooperating with said cam to release the cap when the head is rocked in one direction.

9. A safety razor comprising a handle, a head pivotally mounted on the handle for movement from a transverse shaving position to a parallel blade-receiving position, and a threaded stem in the handle rotatable for clamping a blade in the head and longitudinally movable for locking the head in its blade-receiving position.

10. A safety razor comprising a handle, a rocker member pivotally connected to the head and perforated in two directions at right angles to each other, blade-clamping members mounted on said rocker member, and a spindle movably contained in the handle and arranged to project into said rocker member and to lock the blade-clamping members in a position transverse to the handle orin a position substantially parallel thereto.

NICHOLAS TESTI. 

